1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a cable connector assembly, and more particularly to a cable connector assembly with a cable holder that facilitates orientation of cables in a position for ease in wire handling.
2. Description of Related Art
A cable connector assembly usually includes some discrete cables arranged in a side-by-side mode and electrical connectors connected to opposite ends of these cables. When these cables have a longer length, it is considered to facilitate orientation of these cables as a whole for ease in wire handling. U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,971 discloses a cable assembly including a ribbon cable with electrical connectors terminating opposite ends thereof. By adopting the ribbon cable, a plurality of conductors are wrapped by a wrapper to a flat whole. But not all connectors are constructed for connection solely to a ribbon cable, and even some connectors need connect simultaneously with different types of cables. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,641 B1 discloses such an electrical connector which connects a plurality of discrete wires and a Serial ATA cable. Because the Serial ATA cable is thick and rigid while these discrete wire is thin and soft, it is very difficult to keep the cable and these wires in a same plane. Thus, it is necessary to provide a cable holder on the longer cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,001, assigned to AMP Inc. and issued on Aug. 6, 1991, discloses a fixture for orienting multiple cables. The fixture includes a pair of jaws that close together. The cables are threaded through a series of open eyes between the jaws. However, the eyes must conform to the shape of the profile of the cable, that is to say, each half eye of each jaw must have a given shape. Therefore, the fixture can not be widely used in a cable connector assembly, especially when a connector of the cable connector assembly connects with several different types of cables.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,376 B1 also discloses a cable clamp for holding a series of cables together therebetween. With the reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, the cable clamp 31 includes two halves 32a, 32b. Each half has a series of grooves 34 that are separated from each other by intervening land portions 35. Projecting posts 36 and corresponding recessed openings 37 for receiving the posts 36 are located in the wider, interior lands, while the thinner, exterior lands have projecting triangular-shaped lugs 38 with an associated and appropriately configured triangular groove 39. These sets of interengaging elements assist in holding the cables 27 in place therein and the two halves together during assembly. However, the two halves aren't still fixed at this time and they are preferably fixed together by some suitable means, such as ultrasonic welding, plastics welding, heat welding, adhesives or the like. This will undoubtedly complicate the assembling process and increase cost of the cable clamp.
Hence, it is desired to provide an improved cable holder to avoid the foregoing drawbacks.